


Talk

by SilverFliesInBlueSugar



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Can be read platonically or romantically - Freeform, Enemies to Friends, Got inspired by an insta post, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Pentniss???, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFliesInBlueSugar/pseuds/SilverFliesInBlueSugar
Summary: If he weren't so increduled by the ridiculousness of the situation and the upkeeping of his self-mandated permenant scowl, Arackniss might've noticed just how intrigued the other was of him.
Relationships: Arackniss/Sir Pentious (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 147





	Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by JaydenKn1ght on Instagram

"I regret everything."

"Now now, whyever is that? I am perfect company, you should have no regrets!" Pentious protested indignantly, seeming to pout at the spider's irritated tone as he fiddled with his airship, occasionally pausing to scream something at the decidedly brainless egg minions milling about frantically. "And besides, you should be thanking me! If not for my assistance, you would still be outside!"

"Doesn't sound so bad" the arachnid demon muttered sourly under his breath, ignoring the snake's confused request for a repeat as he stared down the large curved glass windows of the airship down at the extermination occuring below. He squinted, grimacing at a particularly gorey squirt of blood, before turning away. "On second thoughts, I'll pass. Ugh. I could see the brains."

"Why, so easily squicked?" Pentious laughed, pulling some sort of lever to raise them higher and propel forward. "Not to fear my dear hexapod friend - soon, we shall return to my evil lair, and then we shall be truly safe! Ha!"

"Must you punctuate every sentence with a laugh or scream? Also, don't call me your friend." Arackniss complained, yet despite his dour tone, he felt his lips quirk up slightly. What a stupid being. But admittedly entertaining. "You're completely ridiculous."

"I am _charming!_ " Sir Pentious corrected, twanging his bowtie before smacking an egg upside the head for loitering. "And intimidating! You should - bow to me! As such a powerful demon, and as your personal saviour!"

Arackniss raised a brow.

The snake slumped. "Ah, worth a try. You know, you're much less fun than your brother - though i suppose he's more infuriating than amusing"

The younger demon's lip curled at the comparison. "Oh, my apologies for not being like Angel. You'd rather me a prostitute constantly propositioning you?"

"Now now, I'm more bothered by his capability in warfare than his promiscuity!" Pentious corrected, grimacing before yelping as the airship lurched slightly. "Agh - turbulence!"

"Are we just going to banter back and forth for however long this takes?" the shorter of the two huffed, twisting around to look for something. "Does this thing not have any kind of music function? A gramophone?"

"Now, who would put a _gramophone_ in an _airship?!_ "

"Touché. Maybe i should just talk to your eggs, they seem preferable company"

"I could easily just throw you out to the carnage below little man! Watch your tongue!" Pentious pointed at him, trying to sound intimidating but mostly coming across huffy.

Arackniss actually did quieten a little after that, though he did find himself tiring rather fast. With a groan, he rubbed at his eyes, grimacing. "God. I don't suppose an old man like you keeps around any cigars?"

"No, of course not!" Pentious scowled, steering away from a tower before they crashed. "What a base and boring way to spend one's time! I much prefer to enrich myself with the wonders of _invention_ than to lose myself in a cloud of smoke!"

"I'm going to get a speech everytime i say a single word, huh?" Arackniss chuckled dryly, stretching. "Are we at your stupid lair yet?"

"A few more minutes yet!" the snake responded optimistically back. "You are rather impatient, hm? We have only been travelling for 20 minutes! The extermination has barely had any time to truly start around us!"

"It's felt like a century thus far. Oh, and this is besides any actual point, but fags aren't just for sitting there and being miserable. You can multitask. They even help with a lot of things"

"Hm? How so?"

"Relaxes you, first off" Arackniss shrugged with his upper pair of arms, using one hand to list things off on his fingers, his lower pairs folded. "It's a good stress relief. So if you're getting all shaky about something, it can take care of your jitters. And it just feels good. Besides, you can just chew on the tobacco and do whatever shit you need to with your hands at the same time" he waved his hand in example.

Pentious gave him an appraising look. "Hm. I merely don't see the benefit beyond the health detriment, i suppose. Ah well!"

Arackniss couldn't help but tilt his head, curious. "I'm suprised you think the way you do. Wasn't smoking popular in your time too?"

"Well, it became a 'thing'-" Pentious made air quotes with his voice "After the Crimean War somewhere halfway through the century i resided in! But I'd never been particularly inclined. I'm always in my best mood, there was no need for a relaxant! And with myself being so up-to-date nowadays - which i absolutely am, thank you! - I'm now fully aware of the health problems it can bring! So i am not tempted, not at all!" he paused, smirking. "Ah. Nearly there!"

"Finally. Was getting truly tempted to just jump out and let the angels slay me" Arackniss responded in half-jest, disliking how his ever-present self loathing made what could have been a mere joke into a consideration. Because what if he _did_ step out into that chaos? What then? Would anyone even notice? Would they care, if they did?

He shook away the morbid thoughts, knowing he was rapidly spiralling. He dug his claws into his arm to ground himself in the present, peering up with legitimate curiosity as the aircraft descended into a well-and-proper honest-to-satan lair. Damn. In the side of a mountain too, dramatic. Not that he had truly expected anything less.

He de-boarded, at first waspishly refusing the hand of help that his 'saviour' offered him, only to stagger over the gap and fall into the snake's arms anyway. How embarassing.

He dusted himself off, jumping away, dark cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "...I probably should give you an actual thanks" he finally grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and averting his eyes. "I appreciate that you didn't just watch me die. Even if you only did it so that my brother wouldn't come after you"

"Why, an apology _was_ expected!" Pentious preened at being given what he wanted. "And yes! Though your brother is a most irritable foe he does provide some enjoyably encounters! Mostly antagonistic" he stroked his chin. "A love-hate relationship! I, the true villain, and he-!"

"If you call my brother a hero I'll shoot you" Arackniss couldn't help but snort, passing by him with a slight bump to the shoulder, looking around. "Christ. You sure decorate like your time period. I can definitely tell you were in the 1800's. Got enough hardwood?" he mused at the floral wallpaper and overall cluttered decor, items and various instruments piled up to the walls. "Impressive collection of... Things. For a man that loses most of the battles he partakes in, anyways"

"You are rather antagonistic"

"..." Arackniss looked down. "Sorry. I just talk like this out of force of habit. I don't just enjoy being a dick, i kinda get like this because I'm used to being around Angi- Angel. Force of habit. Not to pass the buck though."

"You're... Rather estranged from your siblings, from what I've seen" the snake demon couldn't help but pry, watching as the spider demon nearly imperceptibly tensed. "Any particular reason that you do not get along with the rest of them?"

"I..." Arackniss swallowed dryly. His eyes stung, but whether from sleepiness or memories he couldn't decipher. "Me n' Angie have never gotten along. Not in life, and that carried over here too. I kinda..." he rubbed his brow. "It's none of your business, really?"

Pentious hummed and waved him over to a small table. He frowned but followed, eyes widening at a proffered bottle of some sort of strong alcohol. The bottle wasn't labelled, but he could tell from the smell. "Now then, i don't suppose some spirits could loosen your tongue, hm?"

Arackniss stared at the bottle for a good few seconds before snatching it, pulling the cork out with his teeth before downing more than a quarter in a single shot, relief filling up at the blinding raw pain, like fire streaking his throat, and then the satisfaction when it hit in, sipping it more slowly. "Only if you tell nobody."

"Not a single soul!" Pentious crossed his heart dramatically, nodding rapidly. Arackniss rolled his eyes.

"Okay, look" he waved the bottle. "Back when us were alive, me and my sister and brother and pop - i kinda fucked up. And the family fell apart pretty fast. Me an' Angie got along okay before that shit, but when crap got strained and pop started getting crueler, i guess he got sick of me and my attitude. Wouldn't put up with it anymore. And i wasn't exactly up to deal with attitude, so we fought a lot"

"What did you do?" Pentious couldn't help but enquire curiously, with an uncharacteristically muted tone. He noted that the spider seemed to become substantially more profane once he had drank.

"Just - didn't do well enough" Arackniss sighed, hunching his shoulders and drinking faster. "I'm the oldest of us three, and when ma died and pop started having higher expectations, i was basically the one lookin' after my siblings. But i was real shitty at it. Got mad too quick, didn't know how to comfort people. Didn't help when Angie got in real big fights with pop" he shrugged. "Pop started hitting harder, and Angie needed some kinda distraction. And with me being the way i am, he couldn't go to me. Even though i basically raised him. So the drugs happened. And Molly was the same. If i hadn't been such a shitty brother, then maybe..." he trailed off. "I don't know. But i can barely talk to either of them anymore without... Without seeing what they coulda been. If i hadn't been such a piece of shit."

Pentious wasn't sure how to respond, so he simply didn't, only passing the spider another bottle. Despite hardly knowing him, hearing the other speak so ill of himself made his stomach turn.

"Sometimes i wonder if they'd notice if i just... Vanished. I keep to myself plenty anyway" Arackniss muttered, melancholic, clearly starting to truly slip into drunkenness. "Angie sometimes forgets i exist, i think, and Molly just hates me. Refuses to say a word when I'm there. Pop is 'proud' of me" he made air quotes. "But he doesn't _love_ me. So sometimes it's just like 'what's the fuckin' point', i guess. But honestly?" he met Pentious' eyes, which were wide at the admissions laid bare before him. 

"I'm not gonna ever try and end it. I mean... I have already. I've already offed myself" he winced, remembering the way the bullet had striked him like lightning, tearing through his skull in an instant and killing him before he even had the time to scream. "But i think that that first time was enough, frankly. I don't think trying again is worth it. I'm already in the afterlife, who knows what comes after" he dropped the bottle on the table. "Might as well at least experience the punishment god meant for me. And if i can use this time to even slightly fix the shit i caused, even if it's too late, then..." he grimaced. "Fuck it. I don't know. Ignore me. I shouldn't've said all of that needy shit" he moved to stand, only to flinch when Pentious darted forward, catching his hand with his own. 

"Wait! It wasn't - it wasn't needy 'shit'" Pentious grimaced around the unnecessary profanity. "It was rather interesting. As are you! And to be found interesting by ME is a great achievement!"

Arackniss hated his stupid gay heart for speeding slightly, mentally punching it down. "What, you actually like listening to me talk?"

"Why, indeed!" Pentious beamed. "Even if not about such personal matters - i quite enjoy the way you speak, even your mannerisms aren't entirely repulsive! In fact, i would go so far as to call you appealing! Purely platonically, of course!"

Arackniss stared in disbelief before snorting, hand shooting up to cover his mouth. "What the fuck? Appealing? Me?"

Pentious didn't revoke his words, though he did fluster.

Arackniss choked on a chuckle, forcing it down as his throat closed up beneath the effort of not smiling. "Ridiculous, completely and irrevocably so. Alright, let's keep talking then. What topic?"


End file.
